So i had meeting with my nutritionist today. i weighed in at 218. WOOO. But she dropped a bomb on me i wasnt expecting. Time to start thinking about maintenance and upping my calories. While i knew this was approaching it makes me nervous. I do realize for my body type and the way im working out to build muscle, that this is something that has to be done. I told her my energy has been down. So she would now like me to shoot for 1500 cals a day, eventually working to 2000. Is this even gonna be possible or what? im coming up on 7 months out, Ive stuck to this program pretty hard. I guess its just nerves and i have to trust her. Shes gotten me this far. How was your transitions and any advice is welcomed. thanks!!

ps. im 28 years old.

i do crossfit 5-6 times and week

also run 3 times a week. training for a half marathon in September then a full in January.

Edited February 5, 20206 yr by JAKE H

1 minute ago, Healthy_life2 said:

It's going to be trial and error to find the foods that you can fit in and tolerate to increase your calories.

yeah, im nervous but at the same time i finally feel in control of my eating and my actions. So i feel like ill be cautious and safe. Going to really do my research on good foods and luckily my NUT knows the things i enjoy and is going to give me a few example days of what to eat. I also like having goals to look forward to as far as fitness goes. that way im always working for something.

I'm over 2 years out from surgery now, and I average about 2600 calories a day (closer to 3000 calories Fri-Sun, and closer to 2200 Mon-Thu). I've been doing this for over a year now, and have been maintaining between 220-225lbs (6'3").

Your capacity will change over time. Your relationship with food will as well once you stop thinking of yourself as a dieter/weight loss mindset and shift to an eat-for-performance mindset. I still track food every day, but not for weight loss purposes, rather for hitting my macros (specifically protein) for fitness/performance goals.

19 minutes ago, BlueCrush said:

I'm over 2 years out from surgery now, and I average about 2600 calories a day (closer to 3000 calories Fri-Sun, and closer to 2200 Mon-Thu). I've been doing this for over a year now, and have been maintaining between 220-225lbs (6'3").

Your capacity will change over time. Your relationship with food will as well once you stop thinking of yourself as a dieter/weight loss mindset and shift to an eat-for-performance mindset. I still track food every day, but not for weight loss purposes, rather for hitting my macros (specifically protein) for fitness/performance goals.

AWESOME. Thank you!

3 hours ago, JAKE H said:

So i had meeting with my nutritionist today. i weighed in at 218. WOOO. But she dropped a bomb on me i wasnt expecting. Time to start thinking about maintenance and upping my calories. While i knew this was approaching it makes me nervous. I do realize for my body type and the way im working out to build muscle, that this is something that has to be done. I told her my energy has been down. So she would now like me to shoot for 1500 cals a day, eventually working to 2000. Is this even gonna be possible or what? im coming up on 7 months out, Ive stuck to this program pretty hard. I guess its just nerves and i have to trust her. Shes gotten me this far. How was your transitions and any advice is welcomed. thanks!!

ps. im 28 years old.

i do crossfit 5-6 times and week

also run 3 times a week. training for a half marathon in September then a full in January.

Jake you have almost made goal and are on you way to a healthy life style dont be scared of food that you need to fuel the machine that is your body to run that marathon choose smart food and healthy you can do it i know you can look how far you have come

I may buck the trend a little bit here. I personally wouldn't say you are truly in the maintenance phase yet. Maintenance is more than just hitting a body weight and staying there, it is continuing on with an established lifestyle. At one year post op, most people are still in the honeymoon phase. It is easy to get complacent and even easier to break newly formed habits. I'm betting you haven't bottomed out yet. Then after that is the rebound gain (which is normal) and that's when maintenance truly begins.

Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the desire to get strong and do things that our bodies previously could not do. However there is a price to pay when you start training yourself to eat to a caloric surplus for muscle growth. You still have stiff scar tissue that gives you the restriction with your sleeve. A year or two of being the strongest you can be AND the leanest you can be would better serve you long term than a race to get big muscles and lift heavy things.

I am now 5 years out myself and I ate to fuel my lifting. I usually only hit 2500 calories a day. Now I have some old injuries rearing their head and typical age related limitations forming, but my established routine of 2500 calories does not fit with my reduced training. So now I am contending with head hunger again and I almost forgot how insidious that really is in regards to my goals. I've actually gained 5 pounds in the last 2 months and I don't think it is muscle!

I could recommend all kinds of ways to get your calories up and do it an a relatively healthy way, but I would strongly encourage you to nail down the tracking of calories and macros. truly determine what size/weight you want to be, and then make a long term goal. I know it is exciting right now, but this is not a race to the finish and then done. This is a marathon that lasts the rest of your life.

If you still want high calorie ideas, then here goes:

• Avocados - learn to love them. Substitute them for butter, eat lots of guacamole, or eat it with an egg.
• Nuts & seeds - cashews, pecans, and peanuts are very high in calories because of the fat content. But it's a good fat!
• Beef - there is no substitute for high protein and fat content. Hamburger/Meatloaf are good examples.
• Sausage - I still tend to go for the chicken sausage links or turkey sausage patties. They just taste better to me now. But old fashion pork sausage is high in both fat and carbs.
• Full fat milk/cheese/yogurt - And I don't mean any of that yoplait or velveeta crap.
• Eggnog
• Ancient grain bread - not the fluffy "wheat" bread that is just brown Wonder Bread, I mean the dense stuff. Good carbs and high fiber.
• Dried fruits - dates, figs, apricots... high in fiber and natural sugars. Helps keep you regular too with the all the fat and protein listed above.

I wish you the best of luck and I envy you the time period you are in right now.

I completely understand what you are feeling, as I was there myself a few months ago when my nutritionist told me to double my calorie intake. At first I simply couldn't do it, because I didn't have the capacity to eat that many calories without resorting to junk. In addition, I was terrified of carbs and fat, and it took a long time to adjust my thinking.

At this point, I find myself eating fairly normally and I no longer obsess over numbers. I should note that I'm not a big gym person (cardio or weight training) and therefore need fewer calories than you would to maintain a healthy weight. Like so many things on this journey, it's more a mental shift than anything else.

Ok, I am waaaay shorter (5'2") and smaller than you and a 47 yr old female.

I got below my goal weight at the time (127 lbs) around 7 months, eating about 600-700 cals a day at that time. It took me a 2-3 months to work my way up to 1500 cals a day (both out of fear AND restriction). I did this by introducing:

• nuts/nut butters
• full fat everything
• avocados
• olive oil, butter
• red meats
• berries
• cheese
• chia seeds
• chicharron (yeah, maybe not the best choice, but I love it, lol)
• occasionally allowing myself previously off-limit foods (desserts, alcohol)

I continued to lose weight and bounce up and down as I figured stuff out, I got as low as 113 in August and got to a scary 109 lbs last month after PS.

This morning (at 1 year, 3 months) I weighed in at 118 lbs (me and my bod seem to be happy between 113 and 118). I am pretty lean, averaging about 12-15% body fat (so says the machine) and have a modest amount of muscle you can see actually see on my frame. You can see what my frame looks like in the Albums section of my profile.

I normally run 5km a day and do 15 mins of strength training daily as well as do other activities (dance, bouldering, zumba, hot yoga)...though my PS recovery has put a halt on this and is depressing me...but I digress...

I also normally average about 1800-2000 cals a day.

Soooooo if shrimp like me can maintain with up to 2000 cals a day, it is not unheard of for a 6'1" guy with guns like yours to do at least the same (especially with your activity level).

Edited February 6, 20206 yr by ms.sss

@BigViffer Oh i know for sure i am not at maintenance yet. I should have mentioned her end game for me is 2500+ cals. What she wants me to do is start slowly building towards it as i approach it, and introducing more foods into my diet, because right not i still do a shake for breakfast and lunch. Her first goal for me is 1500. Ill still be in a big deficit and losing weight. I still think ill probably reach close to 200 if not lower. But i also have been struggling with my energy and sure my eating only 800-1000 cals a day has something to do with that. Its just scary how fast it showed up and i really hadnt really thought about where i was weight was and how fast this whole journey is going. But yeah im loving the gym right now and today is 5x1 dead lift of 85% max so ill be pulling 345. I dont want to lose that strength. Im definitely nervous about the rebound gain and all that, but hopefully with preparation and getting down to about 200-205 i can settle in at 215 when its all said and done, Id be real happy there. Just more toned. We will see what happens! Thanks for the advice man!

7 hours ago, ms.sss said:

Soooooo if shrimp like me can maintain with up to 2000 cals a day, it is not unheard of for a 6'1" guy with guns like yours to do at least the same (especially with your activity level).

Haha well this gives me some hope! i know i can slowly work my way there. I just want to make sure i do it the right way! Thank you for the advice.... and i would have never guessed you were 47. Looking awesome!

This happened yesterday. Been getting in 1200-1300 calories and i feel the difference in energy already! also i lost weight. Im sore as hell today tho!

I slowly raised my calories. Able to add muscle and get stronger. Working so far... just a quick update.

PS. it definitely tightened up my skin.

5 hours ago, JAKE H said:

I slowly raised my calories. Able to add muscle and get stronger. Working so far... just a quick update.

PS. it definitely tightened up my skin.

Holy smokes! What a diff 4 months makes! Your arms and traps are wicked ripped ??

Lookin’ seriously ?????, Jake.

??????

12 hours ago, ms.sss said:

Holy smokes! What a diff 4 months makes! Your arms and traps are wicked ripped ??

Lookin’ seriously ?????, Jake.

??????

thank you!!! CrossFit is paying off!!

@JAKE H

you look great jake keep up the great work!!!!

2 hours ago, VIKING 0424 said:

@JAKE H

you look great jake keep up the great work!!!!

thank you!!